Correlation between molecular structure and self healing in a series of anthraquinone derivatives doped in poly(methyl methacrylate)

Using absorbance spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy as a probe, we studied photodegradation and recovery of a series of anthraquinone derivatives doped in (poly)methyl methacrylate (PMMA) thin films. We observed that many anthraquinone derivatives recover their optical properties after they are photodamaged. The mechanism that is responsible for their recovery is not well understood. Previous research, which uses non-linear methods such as Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), two photon absorption, and indirect linear methods such as transmittance imaging, have focussed on one of the derivatives of the anthraquinone class named dispersed orange 11 (DO11) dye doped in PMMA. Since no direct measurements have yet been reported on a variety of anthraquinone derivatives, we have extended our research on a series of anthraquinone derivatives using direct measurement techniques such as linear absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and photochroism measurements as a function of dye concentration and sample temperature.;The data obtained from temperature-dependent photodecay and recovery as well as concentration-dependent photodecay are found to be in qualitative agreement with the Correlated Chromophore Domain Model (CCrDM).;We also applied the depth dependent absorption model to estimate the degree of self-absorption of the fluorescence signal emitted by the sample. This analysis allows us to determine the depth dependent damage profile and time dependence of the damage profile. Our results show that damage decreases as a function of depth into the sample and increases as a function of time of exposure of the pump beam. The degree of self-absorption is found to increase with sample thickness.;We also did a numerical analysis to find the intensity dependent decay rate constant alpha and the recovery rate beta for fluorescence. We then used the data to test the CCrDM to find the average number of molecules in a domain, number density of molecules and the free energy advantage per molecule in a domain. Our results quantitatively supports the CCrDM.